Louisville Lands Commitment from '23 SF Curtis Williams Jr.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - 360 days after La Porte (Ind.) La Lumiere small forward Kaleb Glenn gave his verbal pledge, the Louisville men's basketball program has received commitment No. 2 from the Class of 2023.
Bloomfield Hills (Mich.) Brother Rice small forward Curtis Williams Jr. announced Monday, his mother's birthday, that he has committed to the Cardinals. He chose Louisville over finalists Florida State, Providence, Alabama, Xavier and others.
Williams becomes the second high school prospect to commit to first-year Louisville head coach Kenny Payne, following incoming freshman wing Devin Ree in the 2022 cycle. Glenn committed to the Cardinals while former head coach Chris Mack was at the helm, with Mack and Louisville mutually separated this past January, and UofL hiring Payne in March.
Payne and the rest of his staff inserted themselves into Williams' recruitment relatively late, but made up a ton of ground in a short amount of time. Williams was extended an offer from Louisville in July, two months after he had already announced his top six schools in May, and made him a priority target. Williams made it to Louisville's campus for an official visit this past weekend, along with Glenn.
“Out of everybody, Louisville has definitely been recruiting met he hardest,” Williams told ZagsBlog earlier this summer. “I know that if I go there, I can just be myself. I can be Curtis. I really want to find a program where I can just be myself."
The 6-foot-6, 205-pound wing had a good showing on the Nike EYBL circuit this past summer, averaging 11.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 24 games for The Family. He ranks as the No. 15 small forward in the class and No. 69 prospect in the nation, according to the 247Sports Composite.
With Williams now in the fold, a lot focus for Louisville will now shift to some of their other top targets in the 2023 cycle. This includes Camden (N.J.) H.S. teammates point guard D.J. Wagner and center Aaron Bradshaw, Simi Valley (Calif.) Donda Academy shooting guard A.J. Johnson and Castaic (Calif.) Southern California Academy center Isaiah Miranda.
(Photo of Curtis Williams Jr. via University of Louisville Athletics)
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